It’s funny to think this is my first time writing anything for Grain. Being apart of such a special place for three years and having countless chances, whether it’s building your own board and seeing the grain sparkle in the water for the first time, watching students/friends finish a workshop with such self-satisfaction or just having the daily enjoyment of going to a place where you truly love to work, you would have thought something would have put a spark in me to write. But my inspiration didn’t come from the shop nor from the water but instead from a day with my four year old Silas and his classmates.

A few weeks ago, I took the morning off and went to my sons class to teach them a little about surfing. With a dozen little surfboard key chains made from cedar scraps, some sand paper and a great book to share with them, I was headed back to Pre-k hoping to inspire the next set of groms.

Family means everything to me and watching my son teaching his little buddies how to wax a board and try to explain the construction of a hollow board how it is similar to the “you know skeleton thingy in your body” was the best. I love knowing that he really gets it though he is only four. They all loved feeling and looking at this big beautiful shiny work of art. We read Way Of The Bird by Andrew Kidman and Andy Davis which could inspire any kid from ages 1 through 92. The kid’s eyes were fixated on the beautiful illustrations and photographs within the book and after finishing the story it was a perfect time to give them their sandpaper and surfboard key chains to finish shaping. It was great watching their expressions as they worked on their boards. And seeing them play with them as if they were a bird flying on a wave just like the boy in the story.

Finally heading back to work I got to the shop only to find that I had missed a morning session on the water which hasn’t been around too often these days. But I’ve got to say my session with those kids was one of the best days of surfing I’ve ever had – not necessarily in the water, but certainly as a whole.

Thanks Silas.